Category Archives: Coffee

Coffee, Sustainable Farming

From Guatamala to Arizona – Solanos y Hermanos

A new startup in Prescott brings a sustainable coffee supply chain to Arizona. Via Roast magazine:

When engineer Joel Clark head to Guatemala several years ago for work on a silver, lead and zinc mine, little did he know that it was gold he’d actually strike. Coffee gold that is, in the form of partnership with brothers David and Eddie Solano.

David Solano was a local engineer hired to work with Clark, while Eddie Solano worked alongside American financial engineer Chris Dratz in ironing out fiscal projections and strategies for the business. Eventually it came out in conversation that the Solano brothers’ family owned the vast and well-respected Buena Vista coffee farm, and soon after that, Clark happened to see an episode of the CNBC reality TV show The Profit in which the host looks into a coffee roastery and advises the roaster to skip his green brokers and widen his profit margins by buying directly from the source.

“I was like, ‘woah, that’s quite a difference,’” Clark recalled. “And then I thought ‘woah, wait a minute, I know some farmers!’ Then I started talking with David and we hatched this scheme.”

In February of this year, the scheme came to fruition: The café Solanos y Hermanos opened its doors to the public in Prescott, Ariz., about one block away from the Prescott University campus. A seven-pound-capacity Sedona Elite drum roaster runs in a 200-square-foot roasting workshop adjoining Clark’s home, while the 1,140-square-foot coffeehouse caters not only to lovers of top quality coffee — greens from Buena Vista farm have scored 93 points in SCAA cuppings — but consumers that appreciate knowing their patronage supports an ethically sound supply chain, all the way down to the harvesters laboring on mountaintops a world away.

Full article here: Solanos y Hermanos Offers a Great View From Guatemala to Arizona | Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

Coffee, Curibamba, Peru

Real People, Really Good Coffee July/August 2016

The last few months have been a flurry of activity. (So what else is new!) Besides wearing the green coffee importer hat, we’ve been steadily growing our retail, online, and wholesale roasted (and green) coffee business. I do have a couple of unfinished posts that I hope to publish soon.

The green coffee business has slowed over the summer, but we’re diligent in contacting new roasters to see if we can build a friendship, and some interest in the work (and coffee) that we’ve been doing. The direct trade coffee business is challenging in the real world, because although most would love to help the farmers, sometimes the bottom line seems to outweigh those “out of sight, out of mind” families that labor intensively to harvest, ferment, dry, and bag our daily cup.

The competition is ferocious. The large companies own farms, and contract for the cheapest possible price whenever they buy from local growers. In the ever changing commodity coffee market, this often places the value of the farmer on the bottom end.

Our direct trade model requires the farmer to put in a little more quality control, and attention, but allows earnings that are double or more for their efforts.

Paying more though, puts the smaller direct trade coffee importers at an immediate price disadvantage vs. the “big boys.”

Luckily, we do find many roasters that are interested in more than just price. While the idea of a truly sustainable coffee supply chain may never be completely realizable, we’ll never know what the possibilities are unless we make the attempt. We truly appreciate those who see the bigger picture, and support the small family farmers. The Curibamba Coffee Project is changing lives, and every cup makes a difference.

Meanwhile, the roasting part of the coffee business allows for a better profit potential. Here, the most important thing is quality. We recently purchased a Sonofresco Coffee Roaster for use at Farmer’s Markets & Shows. It’s a fun roaster, and produces excellent flavor in the cup. It works via hot air, and results in an amazingly consistent roast every time. Because we can roast live, it’s an attention getter. Most people are surprised to know that we actually went to the farm to buy our coffee. It’s a wonderful story, and we love to share what we learned along the way. Being warmly received makes it all worth while.

We recently had to contact Sonofresco regarding changes to accommodate roasting at high elevation. The response was very fast, and it’s always nice to know that there is someone behind the scenes. It was relatively easy, so we’re ready to roast fresh coffee sea level to Colorado Rockies!

Farmers Market – Candy Kitchen, New Mexico
Farmers Market, El Morro, New Mexico
Farmers Market, El Morro, New Mexico
Musicians at the Farmers Market, El Morro, New Mexico

Continue reading Real People, Really Good Coffee July/August 2016 →

Coffee

Coffee Fest Panama September 3-4: First Specialty Coffee Event

Why It’s Time for Panama’s Coffee Fest

Although we’re beginning to see changes, it’s still true that specialty coffee is far less likely to be drunk in producing countries than in consuming ones. Panama is no exception to this. The country has been renowned for its high-quality beans for over a decade, but until recently the average Panamian citizen didn’t have any access to them.

Fortunately, this is starting to change, in a movement led by coffee shops and roasteries. Today, Panamanians can drink Geisha and other award-winning beans locally – although this fact is still not well-known or well-advertised.

Coffee Fest, the country’s first specialty coffee event open to the public, will be a part of this movement. The organisers hope that it will motivate local consumers to learn about and engage with the specialty industry. In this way, they aim to promote the consumption of good-quality beans and also help Panamian coffee drinkers to understand how special their country’s coffee truly is.

Full article with info: Introducing Panama’s First Public Specialty Event: Coffee Fest – Perfect Daily Grind

Coffee

Upcoming Coffee Events with Links

Here’s a list of upcoming coffee events via the National Coffee Association:

Date Events Location Website
2016
 August 18 – 21 Roasters Guild Retreat  Delavan, Wisconsin www.roastersguild.org
  August 28 – 30  Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo  Los Angeles, CA westernfoodexpo.com
  September 1 – 4  International Festival of Tea and Coffee Bamako, Mali festithecafe@gmail.com
 September 2 – 4  Berlin Coffee Festival  Berlin, Germany berlincoffeefestival.de
 September 7 – 9 COTECA (Coffee Tea Cocoa/Global Industry Expo) Hamburg, Germany www.coteca-hamburg.com
 September 9 – 11  CT Coffee & Chocolate  Cape Town, South Africa www.coffeechoc.co.za
September 10 – 11 Coffee and Chocolate Expo San Juan, Puerto Rico www.coffeeandchocolateexpo.com
September 13 – 14 Expo Vending and OCS – Latin America  São Paulo, Brazil www.expovending.com.br
September 14 – 17  Golden Bean North America  Portland, Oregon goldenbeannorthamerica.com
September 15 Allegra World Coffee Portal CEO Forum New York, NY www.allegraceoforum.com
 September 16 – 18 New York Coffee Festival New York, NY www.newyorkcoffeefestival.com
September 19 – 23 117th Session of the ICO London, UK www.ico.org
 September 20–22  7th Annual North American Tea Conference  Ontario, Canada www.tea.ca
 September 25–26  Canadian Coffee & Tea Show Toronto, Canada  coffeeteashow.ca
September 27–29  Florida Restaurant and Lodging Show  Orlando, FL  www.flrestaurantandlodgingshow.com
 September 28–30 SCAJ 2016  Tokyo, Japan www.scajconference.jp
 September 29  National Coffee Day  Various Locations TBD
 October 1 International Coffee Day  Various Locations www.internationalcoffeeday.org
 October 5 Global Coffee Platform 1st Membership Assembly  Geneva, Switzerland www.gcpma16.org
 October 6 – 8  Roaster Camp 2016  Pärnu, Estonia  www.roasterguildofeurope.com
October 6 – 9 İstanbul Coffee Festival 2016 Istanbul, Turkey www.istanbulcoffeefestival.com
October 10 – 13  Barista Camp 2016  Pärnu, Estonia  www.baristaguildofeurope.com
October 20 – 22  World Tea & Coffee Expo  Mumbai, India  worldteacoffeeexpo.com
 October 20 – 24  Xiamen  Int’l Tea Fair  Xiamen, China  www.teafair.com.cn
 October 25 – 28 FSMA Training Seminar and Coffee Summit  Miami, FL www.ncausa.org
Coffee

Behmor Gives Back to the Coffee Community

Our very first roaster was a Behmor 1600, and it opened the door to fresher coffee & all of the joys of coffee roasting. Founder Joe Behm has been working to get many of these roasters into the hands of farmers, not only to allow them to taste their own coffee, but to help them appreciate the subtleties of flavor & give back to the coffee communities at large. Via Roast Magazine:

About a year ago, Behmor creator Joe Behm was on a panel during a coffee industry event with specialty coffee pioneer George Howell, and one snippet of that discussion resonated with Behm more deeply than anything he’s heard in his nearly 20 years in and around coffee. “

George mentioned something that absolutely floored me,” Behm said. “He said all these small farmers, many of them had never tasted their own coffee.”

Despite the fact that Behmor had previously explored some Central American distribution for its signature Behmor 1600 drum roaster — a steady, popular performer in the U.S. home roasting segment — this realization led Behm and the Behmor team to chart a new charitable course designed to honor and benefit the people who grow the roasted coffee that so many people in the industry take for granted, Behm recently told Daily Coffee News.

“I’m certainly not rich. We’re not Bonavita money, we’re not Cuisinart money; but I do see that what I sometimes I call a stupid idea I had back in 1999 has a real ability to change people’s lives,” Behm said of his roasting machine, hundreds of which have already been shipped to coffee growing and milling operations as part of what’s now called the Behmor Inspired program.

“It’s an opportunity for me to give back to the men and women who make all of this possible. Without these men and women we don’t have what we do.” Behm said his hope is that, with some assistance from partner organizations on the ground, the roasting machines can be used to help farmers and others in the production chain begin to better understand their own product in order to work toward quality improvements and more premium market access.

Source: Behmor Team Giving Back to the Farmers Who Have Made Business Possible | Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

Coffee

Coffee Deliveries via Drones?

The world is changing in so many ways. While many thought that we’d be flying around in jet-packs by now, we still instead find ourselves stuck in traffic. What if you could have your favorite coffee brought right to your car? Sound farfetched? Read on…

Via Global Coffee Report:

Coffee, donuts and a hot chicken sandwich were the first items to ever be delivered by drone in the US. The historic flight, which was approved by US aviation officials, was carried out by 7-Eleven in the US state of Nevada on Friday, 22 July.

The flight was the result of a collaboration between 7-Eleven and the drone start-up company, Flirtey. While the 7-Eleven delivery is the first of its kind, it is believed it will not be the last, with online retail giant Amazon also experimenting with the new technology. Flirtey is also working with drones to deliver relief supplies as part of humanitarian missions around the world.

Source: Drone delivers first ever coffee in USA | Global Coffee Report

 

Dutch Engineers Invent Coffee Delivery Drone

It’s a familiar feeling: mid-morning, exploiting the first caffeine high of the day, at your Everest of efficiency. Yet before long comes a realization that the cup you filled before reaching your desk is empty. What to do? Abandon your station—risking all the in-transit distractions that come with refueling—or stay put, convincing yourself you can withstand the pre-lunch doldrums?

If some Amsterdam entrepreneurs have their way, this dilemma will soon die out thanks to the Coffee Copter, a drone built to bring cups of fresh, handcrafted coffee to the caffeine-needy right where they work.

When Starbucks announced this fall that it would soon be offering delivery to select customers in the U.S., Dutch media went abuzz—and turned local attention to this video of Dutch-invented Coffee Copter’s test flight through A-Lab, a former Shell laboratory repurposed as an office space in Amsterdam Noord.

The video begins with the tap of a finger. An office worker places an order via the Coffee Copter app, and the request is instantly transmitted to the café on the building’s ground floor. The barista makes the drink—rosetta everlovingly included—and then places the lidded paper cup on the waiting drone, docked at the bar. Rotors spin and off it goes, flying away, up two flights of stairs, down a hall and into an office room, where an H-marked landing pad receives the gentle touchdown. Human hands retrieve the goods. 

While the drone in the video is a prototype, work on a far more developed model of the Coffee Copter is underway. Behind it are six small companies whose leaders admit that the project has been a fine excuse to connect with kindred spirits over the offerings of their colleagues at Coffee Virus—an in-building coffee pop-up that became the official A-Lab lunch canteen, serving espresso drinks and filter coffee made from beans by Dutch roaster Bocca.

Full Article here. (Sprudge)

I’m still waiting for desert deliveries via drone, maybe it won’t be that long. Welcome to the future. Now, bring me my espresso!

Coffee

Coffee Consumption and Prices Up

Via Coffee & Cocoa International:

Global coffee consumption continues to increase, albeit at a slightly slower rate, with the most dynamic demand recorded in Asia & Oceania. The daily price of the ICO composite indicator increased steadily over the course of the month, starting from a low of 118.53 US cents/lb on 1 June and ending on a high of 132.04, its highest daily level since April 2015.

These developments have been matched closely by movements in the exchange rate between the Brazilian real, which also hit its strongest level against the US dollar since July 2015. This will reduce the incentive for exporters in Brazil to release coffee to the international market, especially with domestic stocks suspected to be running low. The market has also been reacting to the possibility of frost in Brazil, although any damage seems to have been relatively limited.

The four group indicators all increased compared to last month, with the most significant changes recorded in the Arabica groups. Colombian Milds, Other Milds and Brazilian Naturals settled up 8.6 per cent, 6.6 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively. Robustas on the other hand increased by 2.4 per cent. As a result, the arbitrage between Arabica and Robusta, as measured on the New York and London futures markets, increased by 20.4 per cent to 62.23 cents, also its widest level since April last year.

Total exports in May 2016 were slightly lower than last year at 9.3 million bags, the second consecutive month of reduced volumes. Nevertheless, total exports for the first eight months of coffee year 2015/16 (October to May) are up 1.6 per cent to reach a record 75.9 million bags, exceeding the previous high in 2012/13.

The ICO said its second estimate of world consumption in calendar year 2015 is maintained at 152.1 million bags, with a slight downward revision in importing countries compensated by an equal increase in exporting. This volume is up 1.3 per cent compared to the previous year, representing an average annual growth rate of 2 per cent since 2012.

The strongest growth in recent years has been recorded in Asia & Oceania, at an average rate of 5.2 per cent, well above the global average. This growth has come from both producing countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam and India, as well as importing countries like Turkey and Japan, all of which continue to exhibit dynamic domestic markets.

Full article here.

Coffee

Caffe Luxxe Adds Rare Rock Photos

Via Roast Magazine:

If you like American craft-roasted coffee, neighborhood cafés with European design sensibility in sunny SoCal, and early British pop-rock of the mid-1960s inspired by the American blues traditions of the decades prior, have we got the thing for you.

One of contemporary coffee trailblazers in the Los Angeles area, Caffe Luxxe is celebrating its 10th anniversary this July. As part of the celebration, the company founded by Gary Chau and Mark Wain is presenting a curated collection of rare photographs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

The Beatles — the most popular rock band in the history of the world — managed to stay together for just 10 years, adding a certain notability to Luxxe’s accomplishments thus far. The company’s Los Angeles roasting headquarters continues to supply the two Luxxe locations in Brentwood, as well as the Santa Monica café, where the photographs will be on display for an opening reception on Thursday, July 21, from 6-8 p.m., and will remain at the shop through October.

“This is an unprecedented exclusive opportunity for all fans of The Beatles and Rolling Stones to see what experts have called the most important never-before-seen archive of rock and roll photographs ever discovered — here in our neighborhood cafe in Santa Monica,” Chau and Wain said in an announcement of the exhibit, which coincides with Santa Monica’s one-night Montana Avenue Art Walk & Music Festival.

Full article here.

Coffee, Sustainable Farming

Coffee Farmers and the SCAA Sustainability Council

Labor is a key factor for the success and viability of the coffee industry, yet farms are currently struggling to recruit and retain field hands due in part to urban migration and low incentives for performing rural work.

Aware of this problem, the SCAA Sustainability Council has been developing a strategy in order to gain a greater understanding of the situation and intended to inform the industry in general. One component of this strategy was the commissioning of a study that could answer the following questions:

How is the situation of field hands who work on coffee farms perceived by both producers and workers, taking into account such factors as labor conditions, wages (expectations vs. paid), dangerous work-related activities, housing conditions when they reside on the farm, compliance with labor laws, and understanding their contribution to coffee quality?

How distant is the actual situation of farmworkers from that stipulated by national labor requirements?

What are the main threats and opportunities that workers and producers see for the coffee industry in the current or future situations of farm workers?

What strategies do corporate and family farms employ to recruit and retain their labor? What are the most common mistakes coffee estates make that lead to farmworker attrition­?

What can the coffee chain do to support the retention and motivation of the workforce?

From the workers’ viewpoint, what do they most value when deciding to keep working on a farm?

Full article here: Coffee Farmworkers: The Next Step, from Research to Action | Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

Coffee, Sustainable Farming

Let’s Talk Coffee : Mexico

Early bird registration is now open for Let’s Talk Coffee Global, the annual industry event produced by green coffee importer Sustainable Harvest.

After missing a year due to logistical issues, the 13th edition of the event will take place this year Oct. 13-16 at the CasaMagna Marriott in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The event brings together stakeholders from throughout the coffee supply network, including producers, roasters, financiers and others for collaborative thought-sharing and relationship building, while the program focuses on pressing issues throughout the industry.

“Program content will include an exploration of roya and other challenges to Mexico’s coffee supply chain, as well as sessions on innovations in micro-lot differentiation, effective branding lessons from other industries, women’s leadership in coffee production, and much more,” Sustainable Harvest said in an announcement yesterday.

Let’s Talk Coffee typically includes optional field trips to coffee farms. This year, event-goers have the option to tour a Chiapas coffee farm, or they may opt for a trip to Tequila to tour agave farms and learn about tequila production.

Source: Registration Opens for Let’s Talk Coffee Mexico | Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine